Even though last night was a late one, I got up somewhat early. I need to make the most of the three days I am here. I went downstairs and got breakfast which I enjoyed in my living room. I decided that I would cross state lines and go shopping at the Tanger Outlets Southaven in Mississippi. It was really nice having the mall practically to myself. I spent a couple of hours checking out the stores and did leave with a purchase. Looking over my BBQ list, I saw that the original location of Jim Neely’s Interstate Bar-B-Q was close by and so I decided to go and have lunch. There is nothing fancy when you walk into the restaurant and that is fine since the food speaks for itself. I went with the small pork rib dinner plate which came with coleslaw, beans and white bread. It was very good.
I met up with Darren and the gang at The Guest House At Graceland mid afternoon. This is a brand new hotel that was built next to Graceland. The hotel is huge and much more impressive in person than what you see on TV. I even saw Benjamin Keough who is Elvis’ grandson in the lobby. After checking out the hotel, it was off to Graceland.
2007 was the last time that I was at Graceland and boy have things changed in ten years. The small complex that used to house the ticketing office, various gift shops and museums, has now been replaced by a brand new massive complex called Elvis Presley’s Memphis which opened in March of this year. If you are hungry, you can dine at your choice of three restaurants. If it is shopping you like, there is no shortage of gift shops to spend your money in. And if you want to learn about Elvis’ life, there are many museums and exhibits to explore. It will cost you $28 just to do Elvis Presley’s Memphis. If you want to actually tour Graceland, it will cost you much more. We did not have time to tour the house, so we just did Elvis Presley’s Memphis.
With the expansion, Elvis Presley Enterprises have been able to display many more things than they could in the past. For example at Presley Motors Automobile Museum, there is probably twice as many cars displayed as before. They have an entire building dedicated to the Archives Experience which gives you a glimpse into the Graceland Archives. My favourite was the Elvis the Entertainer Museum. The gold and platinum records which used to be in the racquet ball building, now reside here. And when you stand there at look at how many gold and platinum records Elvis received, it as astonishing. There is also this huge room that has Elvis’ jumpsuits. Because of the size of the room, you can actually walk around each jumpsuit. When we finished looking at most the exhibits. Darren and I both agreed that the complex felt cold and not personal to us.
We left Graceland and headed down to the Beale Street for an evening of promotion for the Burn’n Love show. Darren sang a few songs in a couple of bars while others were busy handing out flyers decked out in their Burn ‘n Love t-shirts. Blues City Café is where we ended the night again with a late dinner.
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